Zduriencik On Pitching, Trades, Safeco

The Mariners successfully prevented their opponents from scoring in 2012 — just two American League clubs allowed fewer runs. However, no AL team had more trouble generating offense than Seattle, which finished last in the league in scoring. Will the Mariners swap arms for bats, or will moving the fences in at Safeco Field be enough? GM Jack Zduriencik checked in with MLBTR at the 2012 GM Meetings at Indian Wells, California. Here are some highlights…

The Mariners have lots of young pitching, and they’re not going to rule out the possibility of trading it to strengthen other areas of the team. “You have to keep your options open,” Zduriencik said. “At this stage people are feeling each other out, people are lining their ducks up in a row. All 30 clubs are doing this and everybody has their Christmas list if you will.”

Zduriencik will consider trades and free agency as the Mariners search for offense. “You never know what’s going to be out there,” the GM said.

Early on in the offseason, there’s “an awareness” from free agents that the Mariners will be moving the fences in at Safeco Field in 2013. “It certainly becomes a conversation piece and hopefully it helps us.”